WILL TAXES TAMP OUT LOCAL CIGAR INDUSTRY?
Cigar rollers who manufacture without a license take on newfound
significance as Congress and President Bush debate legislation
that would raise the tobacco tax to pay for children's health
care. Under the plan, the tax of 4.8 cents a cigar would jump to
as much as $10 a cigar. Bush vetoed the legislation this week,
but the House will attempt an override Oct. 18.
Tampa cigar makers, who reportedly produce 80 percent of cigars
smoked in the United States, have watched the legislation
advance nervously. The local cigar industry still employs about
1,000, mostly at Hav-A-Tampa, which is owned by international
tobacco company Altadis. The number of local cigar rollers is
thought to be about 100.
